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Niota’s Fried Green Tomato Festival will soon kick off as the town prepares for its largest festival of the year.

According to Niota Mayor Lois Preece, the city is excited for the upcoming festivities.

“This will give us the opportunity to get new vendors, see old vendors and most importantly it brings our community together to have some fun,” Preece expressed. “We hope everyone comes out to attend and if anyone wants to become a vendor for the festival we will continue to accept vendor applications through next week, ending on Friday.”

Those who are interested in becoming a vendor for the event can do so by calling the Niota Depot at (423) 568-2584 or by visiting the city’s website at www.cityofniota.org

“If you call the depot with the intention of becoming a vendor please ask for Tammy or dial extension 1,” said Niota City Recorder Jeannie Anderson.

Preece noted this year’s festival will be the largest Fried Green Tomato Festival the City of Niota has held. The festival is set for Friday, Sept. 8 and Saturday, Sept. 9 this year.

“There will be many more craft vendors, we will be dedicating our stage on Saturday morning and we will have all of our entertainment performing on the stage,” Preece said. “We currently have over 60 vendors so far that are a mix of food and craft vendors. We plan on starting things off Friday night, Sept. 8, with Bingo from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the depot and then Saturday morning we will have our beauty pageant in the depot starting at 10 a.m.”

Those interested in entering their children into the beauty pageant are able to do so by the end of this week. For more information concerning the pageant, call the Niota Depot.

The Bingo game will focus on donations with all proceeds going to the summer feeding program that is held by the churches.

“This event is intended to be a family event so this year we will feature a larger kids zone that will probably be placed at the end of the depot,” Preece noted. “We will be having a taste the tomato contest that is free for anyone to participate in. There is no signup so just bring your tomato dish to the depot at 1 p.m. on Saturday. “

One planned event for the festival has been moved to Oct. 30.

“We will be having a golf tournament that was planned for the festival but will be held at the end of October,” Preece said. “Those who are interested in participating in the golf tournament should contact the golf course, Springbrook Golf & Country Club, at 568-2161. There will be prizes and a new car for making a hole-in-one on the 11th tee. The car is sponsored by Jacky Jones in Sweetwater.”

One feature Preece is excited for will be the musical performances being held on the new stage at the Niota Depot. Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday will be opening ceremonies with Quilts of Valor presentations and then, from there, starting at 10 a.m. will be the musical performances.

Those will be led off with Reagan Graves, then at 11 a.m. will be Double Barrel Band, 1 p.m. will have Sarah Williams take the stage, then at 2 p.m. and going to 5 p.m. Double Barrel will return to the stage. Ken Keaton will be master of ceremonies for the event.

Additionally near the park will be vehicles from the Corvair Club to showcase their vehicles.

“We really hope people will come out and see what we have to offer,” Preece expressed. “We want them to have a great community enjoyment day and anyone who needs any additional information please look towards the city’s website or the city Facebook page.”

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